


Of Dragons and Perceptive Nieces

by Spaceykacey



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Arthur Weasley is a great dad, Autism, Autistic Charlie Weasley, Family Bonding, Gen, Mentions of self-injurious behavior, Stimming, actually autistic author
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:22:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25367542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spaceykacey/pseuds/Spaceykacey
Summary: Charlie and his perceptive oldest (favorite? shh) niece have a chat.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 44
Collections: Fuck Yeah Autistic Characters, On the topic of Brain, autfic by autistics





	Of Dragons and Perceptive Nieces

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this really quickly because I guess I just needed to project on my boy Charlie. It ended up being longer than I anticipated, and the set up is kind of messy. I just really wanted to get to the dialogue bit and was too lazy to build up to it smoothly. Meh. Also, I intentionally left things vague with regards to the fates of certain characters, namely Fred and Tonks because it was too much to think about at the moment. Cross-posted on FF . net  
> ***Please know that this is just my perspective on things and autism is a spectrum. Not everyone shares my experiences, and I don't share everyone else's. Read it with a grain of salt, because this is just one autistic person's experience.***

Percy and Audrey were hosting a dinner for the whole family at their new home. They had just moved out of Percy's London flat to a cottage near the Burrow. This came as a big surprise to everyone, given that Percy had been so adamant about going out on his own and doing things his way. Things had been much better between him and his family since the Battle of Hogwarts, but he still seemed to value the distance. With their second child on the way, though, he and Audrey decided it was time to find a home with more space for their growing family.

The dinner invite quickly morphed into an entire long weekend filled with activities and outings, as well as a house-warming celebration. It was a holiday weekend, so most had a few days off anyways, so most of the Weasley's were in attendance with a few exceptions. For one, Hermione and Ron were not able to attend because Hermione was very pregnant at the moment with their second child. Charlie, who never really had any days off, even managed to get away for a bit. Most of the Weasley clan were camping out in various areas of the cottage for the weekend. Bill and Fleur were staying in the guest room with just-turned-eight-year-old Victoire, four year old Dominique, and two year old Louis. Harry, Ginny, and their three children were camping out in the back garden in an old tent that was very reminiscent (in decor and odor) of the one they'd brought to the Quidditch World Cup all those years ago. George and Angelina were also having a camping adventure with their children in the back garden. .

Given that Audrey was a muggle, their home contained some items that were unfamiliar to most of the Weasley clan, the most intriguing being the television. Immediately upon arrival Arthur had asked for a full rundown on how the television worked. Audrey explained it as best she could, but to be honest, she had never really questioned how it all worked, so she didn't have much information to offer.

Currently on the television was a children's movie about vikings and dragons. Percy had turned it on for the children to keep them out from under foot as dinner was prepared. He also knew that his dragon-obsessed older brother Charlie would enjoy the movie as well. As predicted, crowded on the sofa and comfy chairs around the television were Charlie, Victoire, James, Albus, as well as Arthur. Charlie, Arthur, and Vic were the only ones really watching the movie. James and Albus were younger and far more distractible. They lasted about 20 minutes before they ended up sprawled on the floor surrounded by papers and crayons. Dominique was in a phase in which she was attached to Fleur or Bill at all times, so she was trailing after them constantly, which was complicated by the fact that Fleur also had nearly two year old Louis in her arms quite a bit. Most of the little ones were taking their late-afternoon naps currently.

The other adults were rushing around getting things ready for the dinner and helping out with odd jobs Audrey had roped them into around the new home. Percy and Audrey had both been very busy with work, and Audrey was pregnant, so there were unfinished projects scattered about. Percy's family was constantly in awe of the positive effect Audrey had on him. The fact that there was anything unfinished or out of place in his vicinity was amazing and was a good indicator of how he had learned to relax. When it was time for dinner, Victoire was upset when Charlie turned off the movie, sticking out her bottom lip in an impressive pout. Charlie promised her that they would finish it after dinner. He couldn't stand seeing her sad.

They ate dinner and found themselves back in their spots in front of the television. Charlie was eager to continue the film, perhaps more so than his nieces and nephews. And anything Uncle Charlie did, the children wanted to do as well. Charlie wasn't around as much as their other aunts and uncles, so they tended to flock to him when he was around. This was the first time he'd met the majority of his nieces and nephews. It was certainly the first time he'd been able to have intelligible conversations with them now that they were growing up. He was delighted by the things the kids said, and collected warning glances and kicks under the table all throughout the weekend for encouraging some of the less than desirable conversations and statements the kids made. James and Albus were right at the age where potty humor ruled over all else, though it would be years before they grew out of that if they were anything like their uncles. Charlie thought they were hilarious.

Once again, the youngest of the Weasley clan had lost interest and were off doing something else, leaving Victoire, Charlie, and Arthur. The movie was at a particularly harrowing part when Victoire stopped watching the movie and instead began watching her Uncle Charlie. As the movie got more exciting, she kept catching movement out the corner of her eye. Charlie was 100% engrossed in what was happening on screen. Arthur noticed his granddaughter looking intently at the oblivious Charlie and observed for a moment. He quirked his lips when he saw that Charlie was in full stim-mode. He had grown used to his son's stims and was always pleased to see them. When Charlie 'happy-stimmed' Arthur was filled with so much joy because it meant that Charlie was happy and felt comfortable to be himself. All he has ever wanted was for his children to be happy. Charlie's 'happy' was just usually easier to spot. Charlie had always worn his emotions on his sleeve, and this had proven to be both a blessing and a curse for him growing up.

Arthur observed the finger flicking, and knew that it would soon turn into some flapping, which usually co-occurred with rocking. His happy stims hadn't changed much as he's grown, though he did suppress them more in certain situations. He stimmed freely at home, but if there were people he didn't know or trust around, he had sadly learned through negative experiences to be more reserved. When Charlie first got to Hogwarts he had become incredibly self-conscious about his stims and some of the other ways in which his brain worked differently than his peers. The differences seemed less glaring when he was home with his siblings. Arthur was honestly heartbroken when his son returned home for the holidays seemingly intent on suppressing his stimming. Charlie had refused to talk about it, but Bill told Arthur and Molly that some of the kids in his year had teased him ruthlessly from day one. Some of the bolder of them would mock and imitate him, and others would just stare and whisper. The worst part was that while most of the adults at the school were understanding and accepting, several were less so. After the kids went to bed, Molly and Arthur had a very serious firecall with Minerva McGonagall about this. She was horrified to hear this information, as Charlie had not confided in anyone, not even Bill. Bill only knew because he had witnessed a few instances. She promised to deal with the situation, and Molly and Arthur had no reason to believe she would not do exactly that.

That holiday break, Arthur could see the pressure building up for Charlie and knew an explosion was coming, without the stims to release the pressure. Between constantly bottling himself up and trying to process the cruelty of his peers, it was no surprise then when Charlie ended up having one of his worst meltdowns to date on that Christmas Eve. After several exhausting hours ending in hoarse crying, cuddles, and a calming draught, Charlie had finally fallen asleep in his parents bed. With no intentions of waking the exhausted 11 year old, Molly had simply laid next to him, tears running down her face, and Arthur had slept in Charlie's bed that night. The rest of the break went just as poorly, to the point that Molly and Arthur had even considered keeping Charlie home from the next term. In the end they decided to send him back to school with Bill, and it was good that they did. On the train back to the school, Charlie met a certain Hufflepuff that became his best friend and personal attack dog. Charlie stimmed more freely after meeting Tonks, as Tonks defended Charlie tooth and nail against anyone that dared say a thing against him. Bill had told Molly and Arthur that Tonks had even gone after Professor Snape when he made some less than kind comments about Charlie. She'd received a month's worth of detention, which Charlie happily joined her for. Professor Sprout hadn't even questioned it when two first-years showed up for detention rather than one. They were something of a package deal.

Together, Charlie and Tonks were an unstoppable force. Their friendship was unwavering and deep. Tonks helped bolster Charlie's waxing and waning confidence, and Charlie never batted an eye when Tonks lost control of her metamorphmagus powers out of the blue. Tonks happily listened to Charlie when he went on and on about dragons, and Charlie joined Tonks in her pranks, usually serving as a decoy or distraction while she did whatever she set out to do. They spent nearly every moment together, which led to rumors later on that they were dating. They simply ignored these rumors and carried on.

Arthur was drawn back to the present moment when, right on cue, Charlie began to flap his hands and rock forward in his seat. Fleur had wandered in after getting Louis into bed and Dominique settled with some toys to check on Victoire and also noticed her daughter staring. She flushed and tried to distract Victoire, planning to have a talk about the rudeness of staring later. Victoire didn't fall for her mother's efforts at distraction. The eight year old looked questioningly at her mother and asked "Why is Uncle Charlie doing that? Why is he shaking his hands so much?" Fleur flushed further but before she could try to answer Charlie interrupted, having torn his attention away from the screen upon hearing his name.

"Calm down, Fleur. She's just asking a very observant question," he said, rolling his eyes a bit about Fleur's anxiety over this matter. "It's not a big deal. It's more annoying when you act like this is something I might be embarrassed about, honestly." Fleur opened her mouth to reply, looking caught out. Charlie smirked at her, though, and she relaxed somewhat. Charlie was the Weasley sibling she'd spent the least amount of time around, so she still wasn't quite sure how to read him.

Victoire was silent during this exchange, looking back and forth between her uncle and mother, clearly confused. Charlie grinned at her, reaching for the remote to pause the movie.

"Have you ever heard the word autism before, Vic?" She shook her head. Charlie pursed his lips, pondering over how to proceed. "Okay. Let's see. You know how your mom is blond, and your dad is a red-head? And how Uncle Harry has green eyes? And those things are just a part of who they are?" Victoire nods. "Well, I am a red-head, and I'm also autistic, and also I am really brave and cool." Fleur smiles and rolls her eyes at that. Victoire nods seriously though, brow furrowed.

"We'll just focus on the autistic bit right now though. We can talk more tomorrow about my bravery and cool-ness. So, I am autistic which means my brain works a little bit different from yours, yeah? Question for you- do you like playing with other kids at the playground? Making new friends?"

Victoire nods excitedly. Charlie smiles.

"Well, for me, meeting other people and making friends is really, really, really hard. When I was a kid I didn't really want to play with other kids and I also didn't know how. It was hard for me to make friends, and still is, if I'm being honest." He paused to glance at his niece who was listening intently, looking at him in rapt attention. "Right. So you like making friends and are good at it. I am not good at making friends and it is hard for me to try to talk to people if I don't know them. It makes me feel really confused because I never know what words I should say to them."

Victoire looked slightly perplexed but Charlie could almost physically see her filing this information away in her mind, moving it around, trying to make sense of it.

"Okay. Another question for you. Do you ever feel happy, or sad, or mad, or excited, or scared?" Another eager nod from Victoire. "I feel all of those things too. But my autism sometimes makes those feelings get really, really big in my body. So I have to let the feelings out so that I don't explode, yeah?" Victoire looked less sure at this point, but Charlie pushed on. "When I feel those feelings, I have to do something with my body to let the feelings out. So when you saw me flapping my hands, it was because I was really happy and excited about the movie, yeah? Because it's about dragons and I like dragons. A lot. When you feel really happy, what do you do?"

Victoire thought about this a moment. "I smile and laugh and hug dad and mom and dance sometimes." Charlie nods and smiles, waiting to be sure she isn't going to add anything else before continuing.

"Well, when I feel happy or excited, I move my hands a lot. It helps me feel more calm and happy. It's called stimming, and there are a lot of stims that autistic people like to do. Stims are just things you can do with your body that sometimes makes you feel really good." He cringes at that, incredibly grateful his brothers weren't around to tease about the unfortunate phrasing or make inappropriate comments to make him uncomfortable. Ever since their teenage years, Charlie's brothers seemed intent on seeing just how red they could make Charlie's ears turn. "Anyways, my favorite ways to stim are flicking my fingers like this-" he pauses to demonstrate. "I also flap my hands like you saw. Sometimes one hand, sometimes the other, sometimes both. Now, when I get really excited, I usually rock back and forth, yeah? Sometimes I do all of them at once. When I was your age my favorite thing to do when my emotions got big was to look at the sky and spin as fast as I possibly could. I think if I tried that now I would be sick."

Charlie could see that Vic was torn, not knowing if she should copy his movements. He smiled and raised his eyebrows while flapping his hands, encouraging Victoire to copy him. She does so shyly at first, but then with more intensity. "Feels kinda good, right? Now try the rocking bit, too. Just rock forward and backwards like this," he demonstrates once again.

Victoire was looking very thoughtful, and after a moment asked another question. "What about the bad feelings? Like sad or mad or scared?" Victoire asks, furrowing her brows, clearly concentrating very hard on absorbing all of this new information about her favorite uncle.

"Yeah I do feel sad and mad sometimes. And scared, too. And those bad feelings get just as big as the happy feelings. Sometimes they feel even bigger."

"Does this help you feel less sad and mad?" VIctoire asked, flapping her hands to illustrate her question.

Charlie bites his lip slightly and glances at his father, unsure of whether he should go into that side of things. Arthur, up until this point, had been watching his son explain everything and beaming with pride. His eyes had even welled up a bit when he realized just how far Charlie had come to be able to explain everything so eloquently and unabashedly. Arthur shrugged and nodded. "Up to you, son." He knew Charlie was hesitating because the conversation was drifting into the slightly more raw side of things.

Encouraged, Charlie takes a deep breath.

"Not really, no." He shakes his head. "Okay, another question. What do you do when you're upset or nervous? What helps you feel better?"

"Mum and daddy make it better and give me hugs or a snack. Snacks help a lot." She looked up at Fleur to check in and Fleur nodded encouragingly.

Charlie smiles softly before continuing. "So you tell mum and dad when you're upset or scared and they help, right? Well, when I get too upset or scared, I sometimes don't remember how to ask for help. It's like my brain erases my words and I can't talk to anyone. But just like with the happy feelings, the bad feelings have to get out, right? To get rid of the bad feelings you ask mum and dad for hugs or snacks. I can't always do that so I sometimes get rid of the bad feelings by kind-of stimming, but not fun stimming." He paused, getting slightly nervous he may be giving too much information beyond her eight year old understanding. He decided to continue, anyways. "When I get really upset I sometimes do things that can hurt, but I don't know how to stop myself. Sometimes I hit my head with my hands, or I shake my head really hard, or sometimes I bite my arms and hands. Now, this happened a lot more when I was a kid. I've figured out some ways to keep the bad feelings small enough that they don't explode very much."

Arthur again felt his eyes well up slightly, remembering the harder days from Charlie's childhood, and Fleur looked like she wanted to give Charlie a giant hug. Charlie continued, though, unaware of the angst his fellow adults were experiencing on his behalf. "Okay. Let me think. Oh! I haven't even told you the coolest thing! People with autism are really, really good at learning about things that they like. For example, I love dragons. I have loved learning about and talking about dragons for as long as I can remember. I know pretty much everything about dragons because I have kept wanting to learn more and more and more. I can tell you anything you would ever want to know about them. I like to think of it like a special power I have. Like, tell me your favorite breed of dragon and I will tell you something really cool about them," he paused, waiting for an answer.

Now it was Victoire's turn to bite her lip, unsure. "I don't really know what types there are." She looked so disappointed in herself.

"You mean your mom and dad haven't taught you all about dragons yet?!" She shook her head. He gave Fleur an accusatory but playful glare. "Well, I guess that means I'll have to teach you everything. Tomorrow. You and I are going to have a crash course in dragons. I even brought some books with me!" Charlie flapped his hands excitedly. "See! I had to flap my hands because I am so excited to tell you about dragons because they are really very cool. That's why I wanted to grow up to study dragons. I have the coolest job in the entire world."

He smiled broadly and looked up to see Bill walk in from where he'd been playing a game of exploding snaps with some of the other Weasley siblings now that most of the kids had been put to bed.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure curse breaking is cooler than dragon wrangling," he said, leaning against the door frame. Charlie rolled his eyes and chuckled. "What are you guys talking about in here? Did you finish the movie?"

"Not yet but Uncle Charlie promised we could finish it before bed. And we are talking about autism." Victoire stated. Bill was taken slightly aback, unsure of which statement to tackle first. He glanced at Charlie who just shrugged.

"I did kinda promise her, Bill. Can't break a promise. It's not that late, anyways."

Bill sighed, but smiled. "Well, when she's cranky tomorrow from being up too late, Fleur and I might decide to have errands in town which means you'll be babysitting." Charlie just shrugged. "Talking about autism, huh? How'd you get on that topic?"

"I got a bit flappy watching the movie, and she had some questions, and it kinda blew up from there," Charlie said, realizing just how long they'd been on this topic. Vic had quite the attention span for a kid. "Want to tell your dad what you learned, Vic?"

Victoire nodded proudly. "Well, you are a red-head, mommy is blonde, and Uncle Charlie is a red-head and autistic," she started. "Oh. And brave and cool." Charlie snorted at this, but stifled it when Vic looked at him, unsure. He nodded encouragingly.

"Uncle Charlie is bad at making friends, and has big feelings that sometimes explode so he has to let the feelings out like this," she flaps her hands for a moment. "Sometimes Uncle Charlie is really, really sad or mad or scared and he is mean to himself because no one will help him feel better like you and mommy make me feel better." The childlike simplicity of her summary was enough to have Molly, who had snuck in quietly behind Bill, tearing up. She shared a meaningful look with Arthur. "Oh! And Uncle Charlie is a dragon genius and knows everything about dragons."

Fleur stroked her daughter's hair, clearly very proud of her. "You guys really have been having quite the conversation in here. It sounds like you learned a lot from your Uncle Charlie," Bill said, looking proudly at his younger brother. "You're pretty lucky to have an uncle as cool as Uncle Charlie. Even though he has a boring job."

"Dragons aren't boring!" Victoire replied, looking genuinely offended. Bill puts his hands up in mock surrender.

"Victoire, it really is getting late. You do not want to be tired tomorrow when you and your cousins get to go to Honeydukes, right? And you can finish the film tomorrow." Fleur reasoned with her daughter.

"I can't go to Honeydukes tomorrow, mum. Uncle Charlie and I have plans, actually. So I will be busy, remember?"

"You have plans, do you? Sounds important," Bill replied, cracking up at how grown-up Vic sounded when she said that. And curious as to what plans an eight year old could have that could possibly trump a trip to a candy store.

"Yes, dad. We are having a dragon lesson. And a tea party."

"We're having a tea party now?" Charlie asked, wondering what all Vic was going to end up roping him into thanks to his utter inability to say no to her or make her sad. Victoire nodded, smiling brightly. "Well, our plans won't take too long so you can definitely go get some candy still.

In the end, Bill and Fleur let Victoire stay up to finish the movie, though the discussion proved to be all moot because she almost immediately fell asleep on Charlie. She had joined him on the sofa after he pressed play. Arthur and Molly had retired to the Burrow with those staying with them.

Bill came back into the living room after changing into his pajamas and smiled at the scene. "She asleep?" he whispered to Charlie. Charlie looked down at her, and gently poked her forehead, just to be sure.

"Yep. That sure didn't take long." He carefully extracted himself so that Bill could carefully pick her up to carry her to the bedroom they were staying in.

Charlie turned the volume down on the movie (Audrey had given them a tutorial on how to use the remote when they first started the movie) and pressed play, curious as to how the movie would end. It was quiet in the cottage, as Charlie and Bill appeared to be the only ones awake. Bill stepped quietly back down the stairs and joined Charlie on the sofa.

"I think you might be Vic's favorite uncle. Honestly, you might be her favorite person in general," he said, glancing at Charlie who was glued to the television. Bill rolled his eyes. Even animated dragons from a muggle children's movie enraptured Charlie. Bill was about to repeat what he'd said to catch Charlie's attention when Charlie nodded and smiled. "I think she might be my favorite, as well. Don't tell the others."

Bill mimed zipping his lips and looked back at the screen. It was too late into the plot for him to catch up, so he lost interest pretty quickly. "In your expert opinion, would you say this movie is pretty accurate?"

"Oh definitely not. Way off base. But if it gets kids excited about dragons and makes them see that dragons aren't big and scary, I'm happy. Plus, it's really entertaining! I wish some of these dragons were real."

Bill laughed and bumped his shoulder against Charlie's, smiling. They finished the movie in silence.

**Author's Note:**

> Comment, please?


End file.
